Residents learned their building was safe via an article, not directly. They have been unable to return home for a year.
The article covered a fire on Breadlbane Street that happened back in March 2024. Residents remain stuck in temporary places because their flats were wrecked.
Over one hundred people woke up scared that night as the fire spread from a fifth-floor flat. Firefighters told everyone to leave quickly, and people stood outside in pajamas watching their homes burn.
Some residents learned from the article that their building was safe, according to the insurer. They hadn’t heard this news directly.
Updates have been rare, residents said. At first, they stayed in hotels, but later, some lived with friends while others found rentals. One man, Matthew Hart, feels stuck.
Hart said he learns about updates last and feels caught between insurers and unclear factors. He thinks they protect their own interests.
Hart’s life is paused and progress is slow. He is sad about the lack of aid, even though flatmates bonded during this time and support each other through it.
Rachael and her partner stayed in many hotels and had little money for food. Then, they lived with friends for two months.
Rachael and her partner struggle a lot, having only entered their flat thrice, just to grab important things.
Rachael felt lost before reading the article, learning the building was safe in September 2024 there. Nobody told the residents this directly. She asked for news about the building’s safety, which would let her hire movers and know when she could move belongings.
She hoped to return soon after the fire, but that became clearly impossible quickly. They stayed in a hotel without a kitchen and couldn’t keep food cold, so they gave their dog away for months.
Rachael moved in with friends, tired of junk food. She feels stuck due to poor updates and needs transparency. The building now has mould and damp issues because nobody has lived there for eleven months.
She grabbed passports and documents on visits, but most things remain inside still. Her flat might have bad mould, and visiting is a hard experience.
She’ll wait for updates, if it takes two more years. Her work involves client visits, while her partner worked from hotel rooms where internet was not free.
Stephen Linklater worked for the building’s insurer, Ageas. He said 34 flats are not livable and they found places for people after the fire.
Engineers checked the building in November, and it was safe in January 2025, he stated. Repairs could take two years from that point.
Linklater knows this has devastated residents and that 34 families still wait. Access to clear things began in September 2024; however, factors controlled access as engineers checked the building then.
The building was safe in January of that year, and they are working with factors to let people in. They are fixing the property now.
They talk to the Residents Association and factors, and they shared early news about the rebuilding process. Repairs could take about two years.